The end is nigh for Arsene Wenger

When I penned my ode to Arsene yesterday, I felt quite bad. I thought it’d receive more of a backlash because I wrote it before an important game that could keep us in the title race. I was wrong. Why is that interesting? Because people agreed with what I said passionately. That’s never happened when I post something aggressive at pretty inappropriate time. Things are different now. Something has changed.

What didn’t change was the usual disappointment I feel when there’s a pressure game for Arsenal. I kind of had a feeling that last night would go the way of a disappointment. It always does. Swansea are a weird old bogey team. They always seem to bother us. I hoped they wouldn’t at home, without Montero, but my hope was in vain, we’re not made of the strong stuff and the losses against Barca and a sh*te United side were always going to take their toll on fragile minds.

Sure enough, I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, I was barely disappointed. I was laughably defeatist. Like when you lose your front door keys, then you reach for you phone and drop it down the drain… then you turn to shrug at the man on the street and get hit by a bus.

On the face of it, looking at the ninety minutes without the searing emotion that’s running through my body right now, you could say we were unlucky. We created a bunch of chances, we rattled the woodwork 3 times and we were robbed for the first Swansea goal when Ozil was wrestled to the ground.

However, this fuck up we find ourself in now wasn’t made in one night. This has been a series of micro-shockers since Christmas. Score draw at Southampton, a loss at the Chavs, 3-3 at Liverpool, a score draw at Stoke. The gradual build up of weak micro-disappointments has us where we are now. As usual, the toll of a poor summer is now playing out, as bad preparation always does, in the final throws of a season.

Last night isn’t the problem. 12 years of this utter drivel is. This isn’t hot-headed fans losing their minds. This isn’t a financial problem. This a culmination of things Le Grove and many of you have known for years… our manager is past it. Waaaaaay past it.

The Swansea goal last night was a terrible refereeing decision, granted. But bloody hell, one loose ball in the middle and they can walk right through us with absolute ease? That’s not title-winning concentration. Their second goal, we’re fighting it out at the death and that dirty cross evades all our players? Horrendous communication and a complete lack of accountability. Wenger taking off Joel Campbell when he’s looking the most dangerous and motivated? I mean, our manager is world-class at making some of the most bizarre sub decisions… even more baffling he’d go rogue after the Flamini shocker last week.

Arsenal don’t have the guts.

People are blaming the players, but the guts come from the manager… because he buys those players. He molds them in his name. He makes them who they are.

That’s true of any leader. When you work under a douche, you don’t perform. Everyone knows this. When you work under a manager who you know isn’t fussed about perfection, your game slips. When you work under a manager who let’s shit go, you let shit go. Wenger built that team, it is a reflection of him and the reflection has been gutless one for twelve years now.

These players are great players. Look at how many bottlers leave us and win big things. We have one of the best teams in the league, you can’t doubt that. We have the best players in the top three by a long shot. But they’re not firing. World Cup winners, Champions League winners, players doing amazing things for their national teams… not quite up for it, when it’s all on the line.

That’s a Wenger problem. He’s not a good motivator of players. This much is clear. The silent team talk works when you have Tony Adams and Viera managing the clarion call. When you’ve a dressing room of meek middle class darlings, who is taking that role on? Why do we not have powerhouse characters in the dressing room?

Control. Wenger won’t have it. The man doesn’t even believe in a captain.

We’ve won 4 Premier League games since Christmas (1o games). I mean, we were on the cusp of greatness this year. Just 4 games. Can you believe that? How pathetic.

Where did all that start? Ozil has been feeding Olivier Giroud for 3 years now. Wenger hasn’t found a better option than Giroud in 3 whole years. What does that tell you about his ability to recognise that one of his best pals Steve Rowley is a joke?

How about the defensive midfield role? Flamini and Arteta are our back ups!

How about when Wenger recognised what we all did last summer and bought a replacement DM he can’t use this season because he’s not good enough! I don’t mean to bang on, but we called that as well, because it was so obvious as it’d happened with Gabriel last year! Signing players from slow leagues is so f*cking stupid when you need now players who can contribute. But we let it go.

How about not recognizing that Santi Cazorla is one of our most important players in our setup, 31 years old and in physical decline… and leaving the squad with no direct replacement?

Were there no Santi replacements this summer as well as no strikers? Amazing how dry the well is for Arsene.

These things are so simple to recognise. What we’ve learnt together is that if I can see the gaps, you can see the gaps, pundits can see the gaps… there are probably gaps. The Arsene game of ‘insider secret vision’ died 10 years ago, or like Alex said, when he signed Kos. Which is a real shame if I’m honest.

So back to it, what did Wenger do this summer? He made one signing.

What have our issues since Christmas been? No Santi back-up. No one adequate to compete with Coquelin. A goal drought of epic proportions.

This is madness.

No, it’s not even a madness, because if you put a match (£157m) next to a madman (LVG), he’d light a fucking crazy fire (buy some players). What sort of crazy sits idly by and does nothing?

A man who truly believes doing nothing is the best option for progress. How can anyone tolerate that attitude… especially when it’s pervasive over 6 years!

The tipping point has come. The fans are finished with him. This manager has had plenty of faith. He lies about what he’s going to do. He never really learns his lessons. He continues to use us as his pet project. He shows no signs of giving up.

This resentment feels different… if we lose at the weekend. It could be curtains. If Spurs beat us. I think that could be the straw that breaks his will to carry on.

… but we know how this film plays out. Wenger is the master of never doing badly enough for it to be curtains. We’ll beat Spurs, which is would be an antidote for burning the Union Flag in most AFC fans eyes. Then he’ll string some games together. We’ll finish close. Then Arsenal fans will take solace in the warchest and say, ‘he’s smart enough to know what to do this summer, judge him in September’, and the cycle will begin again.

Someone needs to break the cycle.

It’s over. Even if this season ends in league glory. It’s over. We’re not progressing. Look at how much better Europe is than us. We’re sinking in a season of swirl, when stability should have seen us flourishing. Our players look like they’ve tapped out when they should be fighting. The fans are booing the manager, when they should be cheering him on.

We need a change. A fresh vision. A new direction.

Wenger has to go this summer. Time to move over. There are plenty of names that would jump at the chance to bring something exciting and motivated to the club.

… and look, I couldn’t be more careful about what I wish for. We are a mega club now, in part, thanks to Wenger, we’ll always rise to the top again. He helped build a greater Arsenal, now it’s time to hand it over to the man who can decorate the walls with modern glory.

Names to look out for, because the internet is incapable of thinking anyone else knows football:

That’s not true either, our off field activity is behind the top sides as well, the fact the board have left everything “football” down to just Wenger show they don’t have a Scooby. Do you think they will bring in the right replacement?

The Guy was a legend, could have taken him back for the last 18 months of his career instead of letting him go to city.
But we had to carry on with shit like song and denilson instead.
Wenger had lost it even back then!

I like many were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt up to 4 years ago …
New stadium expenses etc,
However now we are in danger of falling at an alarming rate in to obscurity as money not football glory takes over.

I was the same, New stadium still had to be paid back, so you give him the benefit of the doubt. But like you say, money’s been available and he hasn’t strengthened.

Not buying in January to strengthen when we could.
The stubbornness of not changing tactics/formation, trying to shoe horn players into the team even if it means playing them all out of position.
The list goes on.

Wenger on Henry and the crowd booing.
” he’s not found the angriness of 60,000 people straight away, Maybe because he sits in the best seats in the stadium”

At least TH14 is listening to what is going on, rather than sticking his head in the sand going — “La, la, la I’m not listening…” which is basically what Wenger implied when he said his preparation will be the same despite it being one of the biggest NLDs ever.

Need to play three CMs tmrw to match Spurs as Lamela, Alli and Eriksen play quite narrow. Their width is provided by Walker and Rose. Bilic adjusted his formation to 3-5-2 to match them centrally. The wingbacks were able to deal to deal with Trippier and Davies.

It’s fucking weird really. I can’t see Leicester, Spurs or Arsenal winning it, purely because we’re talking about Leicester and Spurs! Lol. But realistically speaking, one of those three (though not Arsenal) ARE going to win it! I always believed that Leicester’s bubble will burst, and Arsenal overtake them. But that can’t happen as I don’t think Arsenal win win the League, and the chances are, who ever finishes above Leicester, will be Champions, haha! This season is a clusterfuck!
I think a lot of depends on tomorrows results. I think Arsenal will lose to Spurs, and Leicester only draw at Watford.
Looking at the clubs remaining fixtures. I currently have it as Spurs on something like 75 points, Leicester on 73, and Arsenal on 73. City on 72..
I think Leicester will still drop quite a few points…

Yep. It doesn’t have to be 3-5-2, it can be 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2. Agree with Giroud being isolated. The amount of times Bellerin plays the ball into the box with no one but the French within 10 yards of him

Dream I think I posted a team on the previous page with wellbeck and giroud up top.
The comment was basically that we should just cross the ball into the box tomorrow with them two, as the spuds are so suspect at dealing with crosses!

I agree Pedro, ‘the end is nigh’. If fans make enough protests I think wenger will leave at the end of the season. Fan unrest DOES make a difference. It’ll be fascinating to see the club’s response. No more wenger to take all the flak.

The problem for me playing 433 or whatever variation it is, still means 1 player in the box.
Like dream says, bellerin puts a cross in and there’s only giroud there, every time. Usually surrounded by 3-4 defenders.
The rest of the team are outside the box on the edge getting ready to tippy tappy a pass until we can pass it into the net.
If you have two strikers it splits the centre halves and causes confusion.

Good thing is there’s no Chech for the next game. People think a 34 yr old -spent the previous season fully relegated to bench – ex chav GK, whose signing blocked our chance to win a trophy after 12 years, made a huge improvement to our squad.

You can never forgive Wenger for prioritizing a gk instead of a strikr or a winger! or even a DM !!

Good that he is out. Don’t have to hear ‘Chech saved us from a mouling’ bullshit.

A few things to note ahead of the derby tomorrow – and before you call me out for being negative – I am just stating facts! lol

1 – Spurs top the form table with 5 wins and a loss from their last 6 games….. Arsenal are 14th
2 – Harry Kane has 16 PL goals this season… Giroud has 12 and has now gone 10 games without a goal.
3 – We are missing Cech and Kos… meaning Ospina and Gabriel come in.
4 – It’s a Saturday midday kick off – Arsenal have won 7 of the last 18 lunchtime kick offs – conceding 38 goals in the process, including 6 against Chelsea in 2014
5 – Arsenal have beaten Tottenham at WHL once in the last 7 years – in 2014.

Every home game the opposition sits back and defends Barring City, utd and maybe Liverpool.
They know how to play against us since we always play the same way.
1 striker, tippy tappy passing. Rarely a first time cross so the defence have time to get into position.

Corners are pretty much wasted since we rarely beat the first defender or put it into the keepers hands.
Then we are at our most vulnerable as that’s when we get hit on the break.
Time to change and maybe surprise the opposition occasionally.

Yeah your probably right. I would like to see a talented prospect as 4th choice but not sure any are really ready, especially with the lack of quality in depth ahaed of them.
We should have room for kids in each area of the team, if wenger could build a quality core and could maintain a balanced squad around it, kids would have a much better chance.

Bellerin is first choice now in Wengers eyes and it will probably be Jenkinson and/or Chambers backing him up for the foreseeable.

I cant see how that can be the best way to maxamise their potential.
All so haphazard, but apparently hes a great manager and genius to some…

I like the look of Iwobi, he has pace will pass and shoot and for me is already at the level of Chamberlain.
But we really need to push the boat out, and buy a top draw right sided attacking player that scores goals.

Knowing Wenger he will but another midfielder that wants to play in ozils position and shunts him out wide like he did with Wilshire, Ramsay, and cazorla!

The Spuds play at high intensity, quick turnover and frantic closing down. I have seen no signs of Arsenal matching this intensity for two or three seasons. One of biggest failings is lack of drive and the slow, predictable build-up which plays into the hands of energetic sides like the Spuds who close us down so fast.

Can anyone realistically see us changing our style or matching them tomorrow ?

Yeah your right about Red that guy is weird.
Listen I get what your saying, we aren’t a conference side.
And Wenger doesn’t do tactics which really doesn’t help.

The only chance I would give us, is that its a derby game and all form goes out the window.
But when you look at how we have played over the last 3-4 months, plus our record down at that shithole. I honestly can’t see anything but a win for them unfortunately.

That’s why I suggested something so out of the box like changing our formation and tactics for the game.

Like other people & yourself included have said,
We probably won’t turn up, be our usual complacent selves and get our arses kicked.

Its hard to see us beating Spurs. I’ve said it for years that Mertersacker isn’t up to it in the big games. He is neither a good “ball playing” centre half, nor “a put his head in to get it kicked off” no-nonsense type ala John Terry. He lacks aggression and balls (and pace… and any kind of numbleness). I can’t believe people refer to him as a Wold Cup winner. The only reason he has a medal is because he was dropped after the quarters. He was dropped because Germany were rickety as fuck with him at the back. I honestly think Argentina would have won comfortably had he started.
Added to the usual mix he is now getting caught out of position routinely. Coupled with that never ending problem we have lost all fluidity in our game without our ball playing centre midfielders. We have a midfield pairing more like typical Liverpool or Everton teams than a typical Arsenal team. Without that Sanchez’s heat maps are showing him spending all his time near centre field rather than around the opposition box. Ox and Theo have been terrible. It is good to see Campbell back in the team, at least there is a bit of creativity and hard work defensively with him on the right. Our striker limitations are what they have been for several years, but with a more fluid game we would at least manufacture some better chances. We’ve been unfortunate not to win a lot of recent games despite all of this. But you have to be good enough to overcome misfortune and we are not.

We could get absolutely hammered. If we ship an early goal or two and go all out attacking again we could get murdered. We are up against a fit and hungry outfit that are in good form (the last result aside). Also they will smell blood. Arsenal blood. Then it is spurs so they could bottle it. I don’t think so though, they have more momentum.

If you wanted a replacement for mertesacker we should have gone in for Joel matip instead of letting him sign on a free to Liverpool.
Quick 6 foot 4 can pass a ball, and can play in midfield. Free signing as out of contract at the end of the season.

Give it over with the AKBs…. I haven’t heard the phrase “Arsene Knows” uttered in years. I haven’t seen anyone write it in an article, blog or comment in years. Nobody thinks “Arsene Knows” anymore. There is no AKB brigade. There is a huge collection of angry fans who bitch and moan and another huge percentage of tired fans who accept that he has a contract and is almost certain to see it out. If there is another percentage who are happy, well I haven’t met one.

Have to agree with Cesc Appeal – our players seem to have lost the fight we used to have. I don’t know whether this is down to the manager or the players but it’s just so frustrating especially with the game the other night.

We have zero percent chance of winning tomorrow. Like some have already alluded to, the high intensity at which Spuds play points to a loss. You really think a team that depends on its center backs to build up play and start attacks is going to stop a high pressing and higher goal difference team? Jesus fuck! Be realistic folks!

Can’t for the life of me understand why Wenger didn’t go for the guy Messi in the summer. He’s absolutely ripping it up in Spain ATM and I’m sure he could have done a job for us. Our scouting system must be one of the worst in Europe .

Red truth,
Since no one is biting today troll, I will give you a one off snack then go back to ignoring you.
Here’s a few bargain basement free transfers for you.
Are these any good for you?

Edwin Van De sar
Luca Vialli
Miroslav Klose
Henrik Larsson
Phillip Cocu
Michael ballack
Andre pirlo
Steve mcmanaman
Robert Lewandowski
Some dude called Sol Campbell?
Would love Arsenal to spend big on players but occasionally a bargain can be had as well.
Will go back to ignoring you now!

Of course Leicester City could implode from now until the end of season,
but somehow I don’t think that will happen. They have two key fixtures in
Man Utd and Chelsea. Chelsea’s fixture is the last game of season and somehow if Leicester,Spurs,Arsenal or Man City have a chance of winning title and Chelsea have no prospect of reaching top 4 then I would not be surprised to see Chelsea losing that game if it means Leicester win the Title.

Arsenal are still technically in the frame, but I do think that we have blown
our chances in last 3 EPL Games with just 1 point. I think that our points and
goal difference is now too great at this stage of the season.

What we need to do now is qualify for Champions League in at least third place.